More Images

'We weren't going to have any more wars'

Will Foard reunited with the “Swamp Fox,” a P51 plane painted to look like the P51 Foard flew in Europe during World War II, at the Asheville Airport on Oct. 31. Foard went on another ride, soaring through the clouds behind the pilot in an aircraft that was top of the line when he first climbed into one of its cockpits.

Published: Saturday, December 7, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, December 6, 2013 at 10:38 p.m.

Minutes before 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, above the island of Oahu, Hawaii, a Japanese bomber nosed through the clouds toward Pearl Harbor.

The wave of fighters that followed rained death and destruction on the peaceful harbor, shoving the country into World War II.

The next morning, Will Foard was sitting in class at a military prep school when he heard the news.

“It was a real shock because we weren't going to have any more wars,” – or at least, that's what he was told, Foard remembers. “We just didn't think anybody would attack us because we were so strong.”

His class gathered around a radio to hear President Franklin D. Roosevelt call his country to action.

"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” Roosevelt said.

“That Monday morning in class… we knew we were going to be involved in something pretty soon with us going to war,” Foard said. “We sat in class and talked about what to expect.”

As his classmates talked, then 17-year-old Foard had an idea. “I wanted to fly and the Navy was looking for pilots,” he said.

He spoke with recruiters at his school, and “They said they'd like to have me.”

Foard went to sign up, but without his parents' permission, he was too young to join. A year later, while attending Clemson University, he got his chance and enlisted with the Army Air Force.

On Feb. 27, 1943, he arrived at Miami Beach for basic training. A month later, he logged his first 10 hours of flight in a Piper Cub and, in August, was classified for pilot training in San Antonio, Texas. On Jan. 3, 1945, after nearly two years of training, he loaded onto a ship with infantry troops headed for the front lines in France.

They arrived in Le Havre, France 11 days later, hopped a train to Paris and “in a roundabout way ended up in England,” he said. There, he was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, Wing 3rd Bomb Division at Leiston.

And on Feb. 2, 1945, he enrolled in “Clobber College,” checking out his very first, top-of-the-line North American P-51fighter.

"Our instructor was 'Dean' Pete Peterson, an outstanding pilot in our group. Most or all of us had never flown a P-51 but had training in P-40s or P-39s,” he wrote in a book of his experiences. “We were given instructions on the innards and characteristics of a P-51 and spent time sitting in the cockpit learning all the instruments and being able to put our hand on each gauge and control while blindfolded.”

Most of his missions would involve high-altitude escorts for B-17 and B-24 bombers.

“This late in the war there was very little German fighter opposition,” he wrote. “They were short of fuel, aircraft and pilots.”

But with the P-51, he had “the best fighter plane in the world at the time.”

“I named my plane Swamp Fox because I thought it was humorous to have the Swamp Fox in England,” Foard said. Having grown up in Marion, S.C., Foard was all too familiar with the fame of the legendary “Swamp Fox” – a sneaky saboteur who “created havoc for the British” in the Revolutionary War.

“The British gave Gen. Francis Marion the name of 'Swamp Fox' because they never could catch them,” Foard said. “He'd go clobber them and take some of their horses and guns and ammunition and leave them wondering what happened” as he disappeared into the swamps around the Pee Dee River.

On March 14, 1945, Foard was flying second wing when they were told about a big flak gun installation on a hill in the area.

“When you see black puffs of smoke, that ain't good. When you can hear 'BOOM' with the black puffs, you done 'messed up' – and that ain't talkin' 'bout your navigation,” Foard wrote. “When you also hear sounds like gravel hittin' a tin roof, numerous things happen – not just to the plane!

“When all that stuff exploded around us, our four planes went in every possible direction. My first reaction was to glance at the coolant temperature gauge. If you get a leak and lose coolant, the engine will overheat and shut down in a short time. The gauge pointer was at the bottom of the scale, which meant that you would be on the ground in a few minutes. I blacked out from fright, I guess. It was only seconds but seems a long time! I realized then that the plane I was flying that day had the coolant temperature gauge and the outside temperature gauge in swapped positions. It was cold outside with snow covering the ground.”

A crimp in the hydraulic line of Foard's plane that day caused his flaps to malfunction, forcing him to land “hot” without them, but as with so many other trips that followed “Swamp Fox,” he made it to safety.

Foard reunited with a P-51 plane, painted in memory of his “Swamp Fox,” on a special trip to the Asheville Airport on Oct. 31. The 88-year-old retired lieutenant colonel climbed aboard and slid into a small space in the cockpit behind the pilot for a trip down memory lane… into the great blue sky.

“I was glad I was there, but I wouldn't want to go back again,” Foard said of his time in Europe during the second “war to end all wars.” “I think I learned a lot from it and about myself… It's been good to have that background.”

Foard stayed in the service about three years and in the reserves for close to 30 years.

A bit war weary but ready for duty in the Pacific Theater, Foard was on his way across the Atlantic when World War II came to a screeching halt. With no more wars to fight, he enrolled at Clemson to earn a degree in mechanical engineering, going on to eventually find the love of his life on a blind date.

He and his wife, Kat, have five children, five grandsons and one great-granddaughter. The couple resides in Heritage Hills in Hendersonville.

<p>Minutes before 8 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, above the island of Oahu, Hawaii, a Japanese bomber nosed through the clouds toward Pearl Harbor.</p><p>The wave of fighters that followed rained death and destruction on the peaceful harbor, shoving the country into World War II.</p><p>The next morning, Will Foard was sitting in class at a military prep school when he heard the news.</p><p>“It was a real shock because we weren't going to have any more wars,” – or at least, that's what he was told, Foard remembers. “We just didn't think anybody would attack us because we were so strong.”</p><p>His class gathered around a radio to hear President Franklin D. Roosevelt call his country to action.</p><p>"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” Roosevelt said.</p><p>“That Monday morning in class… we knew we were going to be involved in something pretty soon with us going to war,” Foard said. “We sat in class and talked about what to expect.”</p><p>As his classmates talked, then 17-year-old Foard had an idea. “I wanted to fly and the Navy was looking for pilots,” he said.</p><p>He spoke with recruiters at his school, and “They said they'd like to have me.”</p><p>Foard went to sign up, but without his parents' permission, he was too young to join. A year later, while attending Clemson University, he got his chance and enlisted with the Army Air Force.</p><p>On Feb. 27, 1943, he arrived at Miami Beach for basic training. A month later, he logged his first 10 hours of flight in a Piper Cub and, in August, was classified for pilot training in San Antonio, Texas. On Jan. 3, 1945, after nearly two years of training, he loaded onto a ship with infantry troops headed for the front lines in France.</p><p>They arrived in Le Havre, France 11 days later, hopped a train to Paris and “in a roundabout way ended up in England,” he said. There, he was assigned to the 8th Air Force, 364th Fighter Squadron, 357th Fighter Group, Wing 3rd Bomb Division at Leiston.</p><p>And on Feb. 2, 1945, he enrolled in “Clobber College,” checking out his very first, top-of-the-line North American P-51fighter. </p><p>"Our instructor was 'Dean' Pete Peterson, an outstanding pilot in our group. Most or all of us had never flown a P-51 but had training in P-40s or P-39s,” he wrote in a book of his experiences. “We were given instructions on the innards and characteristics of a P-51 and spent time sitting in the cockpit learning all the instruments and being able to put our hand on each gauge and control while blindfolded.”</p><p>Most of his missions would involve high-altitude escorts for B-17 and B-24 bombers.</p><p>“This late in the war there was very little German fighter opposition,” he wrote. “They were short of fuel, aircraft and pilots.”</p><p>But with the P-51, he had “the best fighter plane in the world at the time.”</p><p>“I named my plane Swamp Fox because I thought it was humorous to have the Swamp Fox in England,” Foard said. Having grown up in Marion, S.C., Foard was all too familiar with the fame of the legendary “Swamp Fox” – a sneaky saboteur who “created havoc for the British” in the Revolutionary War.</p><p>“The British gave Gen. Francis Marion the name of 'Swamp Fox' because they never could catch them,” Foard said. “He'd go clobber them and take some of their horses and guns and ammunition and leave them wondering what happened” as he disappeared into the swamps around the Pee Dee River.</p><p>On March 14, 1945, Foard was flying second wing when they were told about a big flak gun installation on a hill in the area.</p><p>“When you see black puffs of smoke, that ain't good. When you can hear 'BOOM' with the black puffs, you done 'messed up' – and that ain't talkin' 'bout your navigation,” Foard wrote. “When you also hear sounds like gravel hittin' a tin roof, numerous things happen – not just to the plane!</p><p>“When all that stuff exploded around us, our four planes went in every possible direction. My first reaction was to glance at the coolant temperature gauge. If you get a leak and lose coolant, the engine will overheat and shut down in a short time. The gauge pointer was at the bottom of the scale, which meant that you would be on the ground in a few minutes. I blacked out from fright, I guess. It was only seconds but seems a long time! I realized then that the plane I was flying that day had the coolant temperature gauge and the outside temperature gauge in swapped positions. It was cold outside with snow covering the ground.”</p><p>A crimp in the hydraulic line of Foard's plane that day caused his flaps to malfunction, forcing him to land “hot” without them, but as with so many other trips that followed “Swamp Fox,” he made it to safety.</p><p>Foard reunited with a P-51 plane, painted in memory of his “Swamp Fox,” on a special trip to the Asheville Airport on Oct. 31. The 88-year-old retired lieutenant colonel climbed aboard and slid into a small space in the cockpit behind the pilot for a trip down memory lane… into the great blue sky.</p><p>“I was glad I was there, but I wouldn't want to go back again,” Foard said of his time in Europe during the second “war to end all wars.” “I think I learned a lot from it and about myself… It's been good to have that background.”</p><p>Foard stayed in the service about three years and in the reserves for close to 30 years.</p><p>A bit war weary but ready for duty in the Pacific Theater, Foard was on his way across the Atlantic when World War II came to a screeching halt. With no more wars to fight, he enrolled at Clemson to earn a degree in mechanical engineering, going on to eventually find the love of his life on a blind date.</p><p>He and his wife, Kat, have five children, five grandsons and one great-granddaughter. The couple resides in Heritage Hills in Hendersonville.</p><p>Reach Weaver at Emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>